Book of Common Prayer
A Song of degrees.
120 In my trouble I called unto Jehovah, and he answered me.
2 Jehovah, deliver my soul from the lying lip, from the deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee, what shall be added unto thee, thou deceitful tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of a mighty one, with burning coals of broom-wood.
5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul hath long dwelt with them that hate peace.
7 I [am for] peace; but when I speak, *they* [are] for war.
A Song of degrees.
121 I lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: whence shall my help come?
2 My help [cometh] from Jehovah, who made the heavens and the earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 Jehovah is thy keeper, Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand;
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; he will keep thy soul.
8 Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in, from henceforth and for evermore.
A Song of degrees. Of David.
122 I rejoiced when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of Jehovah.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, which art built as a city that is compact together,
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, a testimony to Israel, to give thanks unto the name of Jehovah.
5 For there are set thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy bulwarks, prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions' sakes I will say, Peace be within thee!
9 Because of the house of Jehovah our God I will seek thy good.
A Song of degrees.
123 Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] unto the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes [are directed] to Jehovah our God, until he be gracious unto us.
3 Be gracious unto us, O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
A Song of degrees. Of David.
124 If it had not been Jehovah who was for us—oh let Israel say—
2 If it had not been Jehovah who was for us, when men rose up against us,
3 Then they had swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, a torrent had gone over our soul;
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6 Blessed be Jehovah, who gave us not up a prey to their teeth!
7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Jehovah, the maker of heavens and earth.
A Song of degrees.
125 They that confide in Jehovah are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved; it abideth for ever.
2 Jerusalem!—mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about his people, from henceforth and for evermore.
3 For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 Do good, O Jehovah, unto the good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5 But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!
A Song of degrees.
126 When Jehovah turned the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing: then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath done great things for them.
3 Jehovah hath done great things for us; [and] we are joyful.
4 Turn our captivity, O Jehovah, as the streams in the south.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap with rejoicing:
6 He goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for scattering; he cometh again with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves.
A Song of degrees. Of Solomon.
127 Unless Jehovah build the house, in vain do its builders labour in it; unless Jehovah keep the city, the keeper watcheth in vain:
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to lie down late, to eat the bread of sorrows: so to his beloved one he giveth sleep.
3 Lo, children are an inheritance from Jehovah, [and] the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them. They shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate.
9 And Absalom found himself in the presence of David's servants. And Absalom was riding upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of the great terebinth, and his head caught in the terebinth, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
10 And a man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth.
11 And Joab said to the man that told him, And behold, thou sawest [him], and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten silver pieces and a girdle.
12 And the man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand silver pieces in my hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take care, whoever it be [of you], of the young man Absalom.
13 Or I should have acted falsely against mine own life, for there is no matter concealed from the king, and thou wouldest have set thyself against [me].
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three spears in his hand, and thrust them into Absalom's body, while he was yet alive in the midst of the terebinth.
15 And ten young men that bore Joab's armour surrounded and smote Absalom, and killed him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for Joab kept back the people.
17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and raised a very great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a monument, which is in the king's dale; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance; and he called the monument after his own name; and it is called unto this day, Absalom's memorial.
12 And when it was day, the Jews, having banded together, put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they should kill Paul.
13 And they were more than forty who had joined together in this oath;
14 and they went to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have cursed ourselves with a curse to taste nothing until we kill Paul.
15 Now therefore do ye with the council make a representation to the chiliarch so that he may bring him down to you, as about to determine more precisely what concerns him, and we, before he draws near, are ready to kill him.
16 But Paul's sister's son, having heard of the lying in wait, came and entered into the fortress and reported [it] to Paul.
17 And Paul, having called one of the centurions, said, Take this youth to the chiliarch, for he has something to report to him.
18 He therefore, having taken him with [him], led him to the chiliarch, and says, The prisoner Paul called me to [him] and asked me to lead this youth to thee, who has something to say to thee.
19 And the chiliarch having taken him by the hand, and having gone apart in private, inquired, What is it that thou hast to report to me?
20 And he said, The Jews have agreed together to make a request to thee, that thou mayest bring Paul down to-morrow into the council, as about to inquire something more precise concerning him.
21 Do not thou then be persuaded by them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they kill him; and now they are ready waiting the promise from thee.
22 The chiliarch then dismissed the youth, commanding [him], Utter to no one that thou hast represented these things to me.
23 And having called to [him] certain two of the centurions, he said, Prepare two hundred soldiers that they may go as far as Caesarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred light-armed footmen, for the third hour of the night.
24 And [he ordered them] to provide beasts, that they might set Paul on them and carry [him] safe through to Felix the governor,
27 And they come again to Jerusalem. And as he walked about in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him,
28 and they say to him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority, that thou shouldest do these things?
29 And Jesus answering said to them, *I* also will ask you one thing, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:
30 The baptism of John, was it of heaven, or of men? answer me.
31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say, Why [then] have ye not believed him?
32 but should we say, Of men—they feared the people; for all held of John that he was truly a prophet.
33 And they answering say to Jesus, We do not know. And Jesus [answering] says to them, Neither do *I* tell you by what authority I do these things.
12 And he began to say to them in parables, A man planted a vineyard, and made a fence round [it] and dug a wine-vat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and left the country.
2 And he sent a bondman to the husbandmen at the season, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 But they took him, and beat [him], and sent [him] away empty.
4 And again he sent to them another bondman; and [at] him they [threw stones, and] struck [him] on the head, and sent [him] away with insult.
5 And [again] he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
6 Having yet therefore one beloved son, he sent also him to them the last, saying, They will have respect for my son.
7 But those husbandmen said to one another, This is the heir: come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.
8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard.
9 What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.
10 Have ye not even read this scripture, The stone which they that builded rejected, this has become the corner-stone:
11 this is of [the] Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes?
12 And they sought to lay hold of him, and they feared the crowd; for they knew that he had spoken the parable of them. And they left him and went away.
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